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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29521368">the night moves</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilecapsules/pseuds/smilecapsules'>smilecapsules</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>counting stars [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned Grogu | Baby Yoda, Post-Season/Series 02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 16:55:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29521368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilecapsules/pseuds/smilecapsules</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The night moves, but does it move with them?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>counting stars [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the night moves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, I uh, was only gonna write one fic for these two and then this kind of hit me like a truck so here I am. Again. </p><p>This is truly a continuation of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29328174">someone to rely on</a>, but I think it can be standalone piece too. Oh and no porn this time. Only feelings. I'm not sorry.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cobb stirs, lying face down beneath the sheets, the soft mattress cradling his tired frame. He huffs out a sigh, knowing for certain that he hasn’t slept enough but that he’s definitely slept some. He shifts his hips slightly and winces, a half grimace, half smile, as he starts to recall the events from last night. The intimacy… the soft touches… the tears… <em>Din</em>. His eyes snap open and he quickly turns to look over at the other side of the bed, coming face to face with empty sheets. <em>No</em>… He scrambles, stretching his arm out to find the space rather cold beneath his hand. His face falls. </p><p>Suddenly, he’s very awake. He jumps up, searching around for a pair of bottoms to throw on, practically hopping into them one leg at a time as he heads out the bedroom door. His eyes protest the adjustment to a little extra light in a bigger space but he could care less about that right now. He starts frantically looking around the main floor for Din and god he’s just not finding him. <em>No, no, no</em>… he pleads to himself as he continues to search the house, checking the usual places. Still no sign of him and now he’s beginning to panic a little. <em>Din wouldn’t have just left… would he? </em></p><p>As the pit in his stomach is starting to grow bigger and bigger, he feels an unusual front of air cascade over his bare skin. He spins towards it, finding the front door wide open and Din, wearing what looks to be like a t-shirt and a pair of bottoms he’s borrowed from Cobb’s night drawer, sitting casually on the front step underneath the night sky. Cobb pauses for a moment, breathing a sigh of relief, trying hard to settle back down after practically convincing himself in a matter of minutes that Din had just up and gone. He instinctively reaches behind his head to grab the back of his neck and finds the spot he knows all too well. He rubs it and scowls at himself. He’s just not used to people sticking around in his life. And he knows deep down he would do anything to have this man be the exception to that.</p><p>He hesitates before quietly walking out the front door, slowly sitting down on Din’s left side. He leaves enough space between the two of them so that Din doesn’t feel crowded by his presence if in fact he just wanted some time to be alone. And if Din notices Cobb’s presence he doesn’t say anything, doesn’t make a move, doesn’t do anything to acknowledge it. They both just stare up at the night sky, admiring how bright the stars are while both suns are tucked away for a few more hours.</p><p>“Can’t sleep.” Din finally speaks in a hushed tone. “Ever since-” His voice drops off and Cobb gives him the pause he needs to continue. “I was so used to waking up multiple times a night from the sound of coos and cries that now when I’m faced with silence, I can’t sleep. It’s like my body is hearing phantom sounds and it won’t let me rest.” He sighs. “Been out here for a while now actually.” </p><p>Cobb nods silently, figuring that was probably the case considering the sheets where Din would have been sleeping were no longer warm when Cobb woke just a few minutes before. </p><p>“How long’s the kid been gone?” Cobb asks. </p><p>“Just a few days.” Din replies. </p><p>“You miss him.” It wasn’t a question. </p><p>“Yeah.” Din's voice is quiet in his admission but Cobb can still hear the hurt in it.</p><p>“Do you get to stay in contact at all or-” Din cuts him off. “No. It’s better that way.”</p><p>Cobb has a feeling that might not be the case but he doesn’t press it. Instead, he tentatively reaches out to place his hand on Din’s closest knee. Din glances down at Cobb’s hand but doesn’t protest the touch.</p><p>Cobb looks over at him after a few minutes, his voice quiet, “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again… but I’m glad you came."</p><p>Din turns his head to look at him for the first time, really look at him, and Cobb is suddenly grateful for the darkness outside as he can feel his face heat up under Din’s piercing eyes. Cobb watches as Din raises one of his hands slowly and feels it when he gracefully tucks one of Cobb’s free-floating hairs behind his ear. Cobb's whole body shivers like it wasn't still warm outside. </p><p>Din’s voice is quiet in return, a teasing quality to it, “I remember a lot of things about you but I don’t remember you being quite this soft.” Din gives him a small smile.</p><p><em>Only for you</em>, Cobb thinks, his thumb gliding back and forth over Din’s knee, “I could say the same thing about you-” he responds, letting the big unanswered question hang in the air. He can just about make out Din’s expression while he mulls that one over. Perhaps it’s time they addressed the lack of armor in the room. </p><p>“Is it the outfit? Because these are yours.” Din gestures to his body, and Cobb is quick to lift one eyebrow and give him one of his signature smirks before he hears Din sigh. “It’s… new. I... broke my creed for the kid and I’ve been learning things about the Mandalorian way and, I don’t know, last night I-” His voice trails off and Cobb notices him turn his head to look back out over the evening landscape. “I wanted you to see me. I <em>want</em> you to see me. Maybe I’m not sure what that means or what this means, I just know that I feel comfortable when I’m with you.” </p><p>Cobb’s expression softens at that. He squeezes Din’s knee and lets his hand slide back over his thigh to hip and around to his lower back. Cobb gives him a once over and has to admit that seeing Din wearing his clothes is definitely ramping up something deep inside him but he decides to table that for now. He glides his hand further across his lower back, tugging at Din’s far side, trying to urge him to move a little closer. Din inches further away and Cobb briefly tenses, but Din brings his legs up to where he’s sitting instead and lays down on his side, placing his head in Cobb’s lap, still facing out towards the town. Cobb looks up at the stars and beams back at them in equal measure before glancing down at the mop of curls in front of him. His hand gently finds those same curls and is mesmerized as the hairs slip softly through his fingers over and over.</p><p>They’re quiet and Cobb wants to say something but he’s not quite sure where to start. <em>What can he say? What is there to say?</em> He has a feeling that Din’s mind is still going and Cobb has questions but he doesn’t want to push him. It’s only the first night. <em>Only? Will there even be more?</em></p><p>He knows Din will open up to him when he’s ready and Cobb is just as happy to sit here and enjoy his company after being apart for so long, but still something tugs at him. And god if this doesn’t feel like some kind of dream, like a distant memory reappearing right in front of his eyes. </p><p>Cobb glances back up to the stars and soaks them in again before starting, his voice just above a whisper, a hint of shyness to it. “I love the stars.” he admits. “There’s always been something about them for me. I don’t know, maybe it’s because they feel like a constant in my life when those have felt few and far between.” He pauses. “I’d never really found that feeling anywhere before I stumbled into this town, into these people, into this home.” <em>Into you</em>, he wanted to say but kept that one close to him instead.</p><p>“I do this thing-” Cobb’s voice drops off, shaking his head, his free hand waving it off. “It’s silly-” </p><p>“I promise it won’t be.” Din speaks up in a hushed tone but Cobb can still feel the vibrations of that sweet voice running through his body like an electric current. Cobb swallows.</p><p>“Tell me?” Din asks in a way that Cobb knows he can't refuse.</p><p>Cobb sighs as his fingertips roam down Din’s neck and across his shoulder and down his arm, settling underneath the hem of Din’s shirt sleeve, tracing lazy circles against his bare skin. Cobb leans back against his other arm casually and starts again, looking at Din this time. </p><p>“When I look up at the night sky and the stars are out... I kind of have this belief that each star represents a life. Whether that be of someone I know or someone I don’t, I believe the stars to be an extension of life as we know it. Though I never think of myself when I do this, I suppose that I’m up there in some capacity too. And sometimes when I’m thinking about someone, maybe even missing someone...” he pauses to sit up a bit straighter and runs his now free hand through Din’s soft curls again, “I speak to them through the stars in the hopes that the message might be saved for a time when it’s needed most. Could be in that moment, could be years from now, could be never, but I’ve always liked holding on to the idea that it’s possible to reach another person through the stars because I know for certain they’ll always be up there.”</p><p>There’s a stretch of silence but Cobb continues to touch Din softly, not breaking the contact. He knows the message he’s trying to convey to Din is heavy, if not a little far-fetched, but he thought it might try to help Din realize that he doesn’t have to carry the heaviness he’s feeling in his heart alone.</p><p>Cobb feels Din shift to reach his arm back and find Cobb’s hand, taking it into his own and cradling them both against the flat of Din’s chest. Cobb can feel his heart flutter in his chest a bit and takes that as a sign to continue.</p><p>“So, you know....” Cobb stops and clears his throat. <em>Should he go here?</em> He presses on despite a slight hint of doubt lingering in the back of his mind. “There were times, as I’m sure there will be others, when I would look up at that night sky full of stars and will them to shine for you.” He pauses again, working through the ball of nerves he can feel tightening in his stomach, his hand going a bit slack and slow through Din’s hair now. “I saw the bond you had with that kid when you first sauntered into my bar.” He feels Din tense up a bit at the mention of the kid but still he carries on. “I knew from the get-go that the journey you were on with him wasn’t going to be easy. That it was going to ask a lot of you. But I also knew that it was going to be an important one and that in the end you would do what you had to do because that’s who you are.” Cobb pauses to trace the shape of a star lazily against Din’s bicep. “I willed the stars to shine a little bit brighter for you when you were feeling unsure or out of your element or when it felt like you were simply reaching around in the dark in the hopes that it might help you to realize that regardless of what transpired, it was all going to be okay.” Cobb pushes the hair back off of Din’s temple and leans his head down to give him a soft, drawn out kiss in that very same spot.</p><p>Cobb feels Din’s weight shift as he moves to lay flat on his back against the wood deck, his head turning with him in Cobb’s lap, their faces now merely inches apart. Cobb feels a hand cup the back of his messy silver hair and he releases the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding as warm, soft lips touch his forehead. Both of Cobb’s hands instinctively slide into Din’s hair, fingers tangled in curls as he drags them down Din’s face to cradle it in those very same hands. Cobb pulls back an inch just to glance down at Din and meets closed eyes, drops of water just starting to form on their corners. He runs the pads of his thumbs over Din’s eyelids before closing the small gap between them and places a soft kiss on each one, then on each cheekbone, and on the tip of his nose, hovering briefly over his lips before granting those permission to meet too. </p><p>Cobb knows this feeling; he knows it deep down in his gut, and yet every time their lips meet it’s like there is new life sparking inside him all the same. The kiss is slow, unhurried. There is no rush after all. Their mouths move together, granting taste after taste, only the sounds of air whispering between them as the night moves.</p><p>Cobb shifts his body an inch, slipping a light groan into the kiss when he feels the twinge in his lower back, realizing just how long he’s been hunched over like this. Din breaks the kiss at that and Cobb can hear him chuckling under his breath.</p><p>“Don’t even think about it, partner,” he groans against Din’s mouth, rolling his eyes lazily. Cobb feels a hand curl around his neck and flutter all the way down the length of his spine, fingers pressing into his lower back. Cobb moans, fully resting Din’s head back down on his lap and sits up to straighten his back out, rolling his shoulders on another groan. “That's it. Time to move.” Cobb urges.</p><p>Din complies and slowly shifts back up into a sitting position, the outskirts of each one of their thighs rubbing against each other as they settle in close on the steps. Cobb lays his hand on Din’s thigh and forces all his weight onto it as he stands up, reaching both hands up for a huge stretch and looks up into the night sky one more time. He drops his arms on a satisfied groan and leaves one hand outstretched toward Din as his body turns for the door. “Whadaya say?” Cobb asks as he looks over his shoulder down at Din. </p><p>“I’d say you aren’t gonna be much help with that.” Din retorts as he nods in the direction of Cobb’s outstretched hand.</p><p>Cobb narrows his eyes at him and deadpans, turning and walking away from him towards the door. Cobb hears Din laugh and hears the wood creaking as footsteps grow louder in his ears. Arms quickly wrap around his waist, bodies stuck together as Din rests his chin on Cobb’s shoulder, the two of them stopped just inches from the threshold into the house. </p><p>“You know…” Cobb can practically hear the smug tone dripping off of Din’s words in his ear, “I’ve always liked the stars.”</p><p>He sounds sincere but Cobb purses his lips anyways. “You know…” Cobb pauses and turns his face towards Din’s, “You’re lucky I like you.” He pecks the side of Din’s head and grabs his hands, dragging them both back inside.</p>
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